on android apps can also request a list of other apps installed, for example the mcdonalds app can check whether the kfc app is installed. it doesn’t give apps broad permission to check for every single app on your device (before android 11 that was actually the case), but apps can definitely spy on their competitors that way.
The only reason they went from websites to apps is because with apps they can push notifications.
And they can request location info and other things, and most people just click Allow.
on android apps can also request a list of other apps installed, for example the mcdonalds app can check whether the kfc app is installed. it doesn’t give apps broad permission to check for every single app on your device (before android 11 that was actually the case), but apps can definitely spy on their competitors that way.
They can also request location info and other things on a website, and people also just need to click Allow.
And the apps can report your phone’s sensor info back to their servers so they can build a profile on you to sell to data brokers.
They can also use push notification on websites, and for both websites and apps you have to agree to a system prompt first to allow it to happen.
So that’s not the reason.
Invalid since 2023: https://caniuse.com/push-api